Correspondence filing mechanism



- March. 11, 1958 'F'. wAsELL 3 5 1 C ORRESPONDENCE FILING MECHANISMFiled Feb. 12, 1954 k E? I q INVENTOR- FRANK LLOYD WASSELL H ISATTORNEYS.

slit 27 in the top wall of the channel.

United States Patent CORRESPONDENCE FILING MECI-IANi'Slvl Frank LloydWassell, Westport, Conn., assignor to Georgene Par-kin Wassell,Westport, Conn.

Application February 12, 1954, Serial No. 469,996

1 Claim. (Cl. 129-16) This invention relates to filing mechanisms andembodies, more specifically, an improved form of filing mechanism bymeans of which correspondence and the like may be maintained in filedcondition and yet readily accessible at all times.

The invention relates more particularly to a rotary filing mechanism,such as illustrated in applicants copending application Serial No.223,593, filed April 28, 1951, now Patent No. 2,750,051, for MultipleRotary Card File, and it is an object of the present invention toprovide a rotary filing mechanism by means of which correspondence andlike material to be filed may be maintained in a properly filedcondition and within a minimum of space, yet readily accessible andavailable for removal from or replacement into the filing mechanism.

In my copending application Serial No. 342,859, filed March 17, 1953,now Patent No. 2,790,443, there is described a rotatable file supportingmechanism having outer supporting elements disposed in a planesubstantially lower than the plane in which inner file supportingelements are disposed in combination with frame structure can be carriedby the frame supporting elements, the frame structure being providedwith folded flexible elements that are suspended by the frames.

The present invention relates particularly to a filing mechanism of thegeneral type described in the second of said copending applications and,more particularly, it provides an improved filing mechanism whichpossesses the advantages of greater versatility and easier operationthan the mechanism of said last named application.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a partial plan view of filing mechanism constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of Figure 1, andlooking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 1, and lookingin the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the frame member of Figures 1, 2and 3.

Referring to the above drawings and particularly to I Figures 1 through4, filing mechanism is illustrated as being provided in the form of thevertical non-rotatable shaft 20, which may be mounted in a suitable base(not shown). One or more supporting means may be provided in axiallyspaced relationship upon the shaft 20, each supporting means comprisingupper and lower plates 21 and 22, respectively, which are rotatablymounted on the shaft by means of thrust bearing assemblies 23 and 24,

respectively. The plates 21 and 22 are in turn reinforced at their outerperipheries by cylinder 25. Mounted upon plate 21 adjacent the outerperiphery thereof is a supporting means comprising an annular channel 26which is rectangular in cross section and which has an annular Joined tothe bottom of lower plate 22 there are a plurality of radially extendingarms 28 which, at their outer extremity, support 2,826,203 Patented Mar.11, 1958 2 a hand rail 29 which extends concentrically of shaft 20.

The foregoing structure thus provides a rotatable supporting means inthe form of an annular channel. The structure may, if desired, besectioned or compartmented by one or more radially extending partitionplates (not shown).

In order that material to be filed may be effectively supported in aproperly filed condition, a plurality of frames is provided, each beingformed with a longitudinal arm 30 and a downwardly extending arm 31.Each of the arms 30 is provided at its extremity with a toe 32 whichserves as an anchoring means and which is adapted to engage the annularchannel 26 in locking relationship by insertion through slot 27.Correspondence or other material to be filed, can be supported by meansof flexible folded sheet material '33, this material being suspendedfrom the longitudinal arms 30 and suitably secured thereto at 34 (asindicated in Figure 2). The bottom fold 35 of the material 33 thusserves as a saddle or pocket within which the correspondence or othermaterial can rest.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 through 4, thesheet material 33 is not only secured at 28 to the longitudinal arms ofadjacent frames, but is also secured to the downwardly extending arms 31of adjacent frames, as indicated at 36.

Spaced slots 37 may be provided in the portions of the material 33 thatare folded about the arms 30 and 31 in order that indicating tabs orother indicia 38 may be secured therein, as illustrated in Figures 1through 3.

By providing the shaft 20 with a plurality of independently rotatablesupporting structures there may be provided a multiple tier rotary fileon each tier of which there may be supported a plurality of flexiblefolded sheet materials in the form of filing pockets in which filedmaterial is readily accessible at all times.

Each. tier of the file may be conveniently rotated by simply graspingthe hand rail 29 and applying slight horizontal pressure thereto.Another feature of the file is that the frames are quite securely lockedin place and thus protected against accidental dislodgement but yet atthe same time adjacent frames can be readily and easily removed from thefile by simply lifting upwardly and outwardly.

It is observed that material filed within the pockets is readilyaccessible from the side, and thus may be easily inspected, removed, orinserted. This permits a plurality of rotatable filing mechanisms to bemounted in superposed relationship upon a common shaft without impairingthe accessibility above mentioned.

While the invention has been described with specific reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is not to be limited save as defined in theappended claim.

I claim:

Filing mechanism comprising; a vertical shaft; a central turn tablerotatably mounted on said shaft and including a radially extendinghorizontal plate in which is formed an annular slot concentric with saidshaft, a plurality of arms each being characterized by a toe at one endof the arm; each toe being formed by a vertical shoulder extendingdownward from the upper side of the arm at the said end thereof to atermination vertically spaced down from the under side of the arm in anamount equal to the thickness of said plate, a horizontal shoulderprojecting away from said termination, and a curved shoulder meeting theunder side of the arm at a juncture which is horizontally spaced fromsaid vertical shoulder by an amount only slightly less than the width ofsaid slot; said curved shoulder extending downward and away from saidjuncture as a circular arc to a point beneath said termination, andextending beyond the last-named point to taper towards the saidhorizontal shoulder; each toe of an arm being inserted in said slot tohave the horizontal shoulder thereof bear against the under side of saidplate radially inward of said slot and to have the under side of the armbear against the upper side of said plate radially outward of said slot,with the vertical shoulder and the upper part of the curved shoulder ofthe toe being in close-fitting relation to,- respectively, the radiallyinward and outward margins of said slot; each arm being therebysupported as a cantilever to extend radially and horizontally of theturn table, and each arm being'thereby locked with said slot to benondetachable therefrom except by upward rotation of the arm through anare which is substantially equal in angular value to the said circulararc of the curved shoulder; each arm being maintained in radialalignment on the turn table by the close-fitting relation between thetwo margins of the slot and, respectively, the vertical shoulder and thecurved shoulder of the toe of the arm; and flexible sheet materialsuspended between adjacent arms to form individual filing pockets, 2

4 the said mechanism providing free radial access to said pockets,however angularly distributed, throughout a full revolution of said turntable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,130,597 Hogg Mar. 2, 1915 2,291,724 Jonas Aug. 4, 1942 2,411,950Yzetta Dec. 3, 1946 2,493,538 Karns Jan. 3, 1950 2,599,802 Yzetta June10, 1952 FOREIGN, PATENTS 852,973 France Nov. 18, 1939 500,973 BelgiumFeb. 15, 1951 1,024,781 France Ian. 10, 1953 1,066,874 France Jan. 27,1954

